Pitch Perfect 3 (Alternate Ending)
by SkippingStones1111
Summary: Based off of the movie, Pitch Perfect 3 except that one of the beloved Bellas gets hurt. There will be scenes from the movie but some scenes will also be written by the author.
1. Prologue

THIS IS NOT MY STORY*

All of the credit goes to the writer, Nat_Hill.*

_For any readers that may be confused, this is part of the ending. The next chapter and the chapters after lead up to it._

Enjoy!

"Please look at me! Look at me!" Chloe cradled the Bella and held her face as she was sobbed. "This is not how your story ends, you've got your whole life ahead of you." The Bellas had all been crying and it was the first time they'd seen Aubrey cry.

"You better wake up for my best friend or I'm gonna kill you Hobbit!" She bursted out in tears and put her hand on the bleeding Bella. "Please, don't leave us. Not now." She then leaned in to hug them both and so do the rest of the Bellas.

Once they've reach the street, she's quickly taken and put in an ambulance. Chloe is about to get on but one of the EMT's stopped her.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but you can't be on there." She raised her hand to put it on Chloe's shoulder but she slapped it to the side.

"No you don't understand, I need to be with her!" Chloe said in between sobs.

"She is in critical condition and we can't have anyone in the way."

"She needs someone with her!" Aubrey came up from behind Chloe. "She's her best friend." She placed both hands on the redhead's shoulders.

"We need to be able to get to her in case she-" The woman stopped and dropped her head.

"I-in case s-she what?" Chloe asks, hoping that what she is thinking isn't what the woman had meant. She raised her head and stared at the both of them.

"In case she doesn't make it..." Aubrey started to cry again and she turned away, walking back to the Bellas whose eyes are all red and puffy. Chloe closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Nothing you say or do now is gonna stop me from getting on that damn ambulance." Chloe shoved the woman to the side and hopped in and closed the door. When she saw her, she tried her hardest to stay strong, but failed and started to break down for the third time, grabbing ahold her best friend's hand. The Bella was hooked up with wires everywhere and the oxygen tube was in her nose.

"You don't have the Bellas permission to die. Especially not mine." She squeezed her hand tighter. The vehicle then started speeding and the sirens start to scream.


	2. Chapter One: Life After The Bellas

Now graduated, the Bellas have all moved on to pursue their...dreams. Emily of course is now the leader of the new Bellas and has recruited new ones. Beca is a producer at a music studio, Aubrey is still running the retreat, Chloe is training to become a vet, Fat Amy has a gig called "Fat Amy WineHouse," Stacie is a trainer at a gym, Cynthia Rose is working on flight school, Flo works at a juice cart, Lily designs clothes, and Jessica and Ashley...well, who knows?

Beca walks to work because it just so happens that it's in walking distance from her, Chloe, and Amy's shared apartment. The brunette and the redhead share the futon and a clothes rack separates Fat Amy's bed and the toilet.

Unfortunately on her way to work, John and Gail spot her and quickly set up their gear to record her. It had been a few years since they've seen her and they're hoping to get a documentary on her on the other Bellas.

"They were world champions. The winningest a cappella group of all time." Beca's been aware of the two following her, but she ignores them and continues to walk and listen to her music.

"The Barden Bellas, an unlikely Group of not-men who somehow managed to win at something that didn't have to do with baking." Beca finally gives up. She shakes her head and pulls out her right ear bud to turn to them.

"I can hear you guys." She says as she looks in the camera, clearly annoyed.

"You know girlie you're this close to being cut out of this d'aca'mentary."

"So close, you're in the danger zone!" Gail adds in. Beca turns around again.

"We have security, and I carry mace." The petite woman then proceeds to walk in the building.

"We're going to cling to you like mom jeans to a camel toe!" Gail laughs and adds.

"That's right!"

Gross. Beca says to herself. Honestly where does he get stuff like that from? She shakes her head and pushes the button for the elevator. Okay Beca, you've listened to...Lil Pimple's track and it was absolute garbage. Hopefully he will at least consider what you put together. As the elevator door dings, she takes a deep breath and steps out, walking over to the sitting area where Lil Pimple, his crew, and Evan are waiting.

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late I was caught up with some people." She sits down and pulls up the file from her laptop. "Now, Lil Pimple I took your song and tweaked it a little bit and I think you should hear it." He nods, but she can tell he isn't all for it. Beca presses play, hoping this would change his mind.

Beca had added her voice in the song:

"Stand up, bend it over boy, ooh ooh stand up"

Lil Pimple comes in with her still singing in the background.

" Give me the beat, I chew it like bubblegum"

"Pimp-Lo, and I'm back"

"(All I wanna see and do. Get on your feet)"

"With another one."

"Bend down, yes Lord"

"(Come on and do it for me)"

"Let me squeeze on that booty like stress balls."

"(Get on your feet)"

Lil Pimple has the tip of his thumb in his mouth and as the song continues to play, he turns to look at Beca. The sudden eye contact makes Beca look away nervously. Evan looks over at her and is clearly impressed.

"Mm, mm, mm, mm whoa. You produced the sh* out of his turd-burger." Beca grins and shifts her body to face her.

"Thanks I mean...it's better." The brunette says as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. Evan points to the laptop with a curious look.

"Who's that singing?"

"Oh that's me," The brunette states proudly, "But we've got time to get a real singer I have a couple of thoughts."

"I think it's very-." Evan's comment is cut off when Lil Pimple interrupts her.

"Yo. Yo, can we turn this off?" He's leaning over the couch and folds his hands. Both women reposition themselves and turn to look at him.

"Pimp-Lo bam, bam, bam. I mean," Evan starts, "You have done it again. Bend over is soo..." She trails off.

"Soo good..." Beca adds as enthusiastically and convincingly as she possibly can. Lil Pimple nods, walking back in front of the women.

"I feel like my ears are hearing the future."

"Club banger."

"Yeah well I hate it, I really hate it." Both women are taken aback by his response. " I'm the artist, and this is my song, and I feel like...y'all should play my mix." Beca gives him a rather concerned look. After a few brief moments, Evan hits play.

"(Uh! Yeah)"

"Give me the beat. I chew it like bubblegum."

"(Dubble bubble. Hey)"

Lil Pimple and the rest of his crew are totally digging it and bobbing their heads as the horrible song plays. It sounds like laser guns and random beats were thrown in together.

"See? This is the "Bend Over" the world needs to be listening to." Lil Pimp states proudly as he bops his head to the beat of the song.

"Oh, yeah!"

"(Uh!)"

As the song continues, he starts dancing, slowly moving towards Beca, who is completely disgusted. She then takes a deep breath and stands up in front of him.

"Yeah um...it's my job to make you the best Lil Pim-Lo that you can be, and-and I want to get behind "Bend Over" and as your producer, I would love it if you could trust me."

"I would love it if you would leave my track how it is." He snaps back. Beca shakes her head and scoffs.

"I made your song great, man."

"I think what she means is, your song was always great." Evan laughs.

"No what I mean is what you gave me is a steaming pile of-"

"Pimp-Lo!" The woman stands up next to Beca and continues. "Okay there's something you should know. Uh Beca..." She puts her arm around her and the brunette drops her head. " Is on her period." Beca snaps her head up with a look of disbelief.

"Wow." She can't believe it. Evan is taking his side and embarrassing her in front of everyone, and it isn't even true.

"Oh it's shark week? Hot damn."

"Bum-bum." Evan mimics a shark with her hand.

"Y'all keepin' it one hundred. That's my moms right there." He points to the women standing behind the couch that was playing with his hair earlier. "You know what it is." The women shakes her head and replies.

"Mm hmm."

"Still menstruating? Hmm." Evan asks curiously.

"Okay." Beca storms off in the other room away from the group.

"If you could just excuse us for a second." Evan goes after Beca, who is pacing back in forth. " What're you doing?" Shocked, Beca stops in front of her and scoffs.

"How can you take his side?"

"Sides? Well we...why are we always talking about sides? Okay, it's our job, brah. We're producers. We bring his vision to life." Beca shakes her head, not believing what was coming out of Evan's mouth. They look over to see Lil Pimple with the VR on his face.

"Damn that's poppin'! Hey!" Beca can't take it. She can't stay there. Yes it's her dream to produce music, but she can't produce that. She won't. The woman turns back to look at Evan and shrugs.

"I'm sorry...but I quit." And with that, she grabs her things and heads towards the elevator.

"Beca," Evan calls out to her, but the brunette is already hitting the button for the floor and the doors open. She presses on the button labeled "1", the last thing she sees is a distraught Evan with her hands on her face.

As she's walking back, she's trying hard not to freak out. Now, her and Amy both don't have jobs. Someone has to pay rent. But she knows deep down that that was the best choice for her. She wants to be known for producing good music. Not something as bad as "Bend Over."

When Beca reaches the door of the apartment, she takes a deep breath, knowing she has to break the news to both Fat Amy and Chloe. The woman bounces up and down on the balls of her feet and shakes her whole body. After what feels like hours, she finally puts her keys in and turns the knob.

"I did it." Beca walks in with her arms in the air. "I finally quit my job. And I'm free, I'm free and never going back to that job again. It's the best day of my life. I mean, I can't be a music producer without integrity," She pauses when she hears the toilet flushing and Fat Amy emerging from behind the clothes rack with earbuds in. The blonde sees her friend and pulls out her earbuds.

"What's up?" Beca points to the blonde's earbuds, realizing she didn't hear anything that she had just said.

"What?"

"Wait. S-Something's wrong. Your face is more pinched than normal."

"I-I finally did it." Beca puts both thumbs up enthusiastically. Fat Amy stares at her, afraid to ask the next question.

"You got back together with Jesse?"

"No!" She yells, "You know the long-distance thing didn't work." Fat Amy is relieved and briefly puts her hands on her face. "He lives 3,000 miles away with his girlfriend and their cat."

"Oh. He got over you much quicker than what I thought."

"Oh, thank you, Amy."

"Much faster than Bumper, who is rightfully still devastated. You know he got a tattoo of me on his butt cheek? So now, every time he wants to see me he's like..." She then shows her by turning in circles. "He's just..."

"Okay. Um."

"That made me dizzy." Fat Amy rubs her eyes and focuses back on her friend. Wait what's up?"

"I quit my job." The blonde's eyes shoot open and she steps towards her.

"You got fired?"

"Oh come on." Fat Amy hugs her then they lie down on Beca and Chloe's bed.

"Alright I-I didn't get fired I quit."

"Come here." Fat Amy still has her arms wrapped around Beca and comforts her.

"You're kind of making it worse."

"Let this negative energy be released!" The blonde motions her hand up and then down Beca's body. "Seriously open your legs. It'll come out quicker." She opens her legs to demonstrate.

"No, no." Beca refuses and shakes her head.

"It'll come out quicker. The bad energy." She tries to

open up the petite woman's legs.

"Why do you do this stuff?"

"Okay, seriously."

"Why are you like this?" Fat Amy then holds her closer.

"You're gonna come back from this so fast."

"Mm."

"You know why? Because you have an amazing best friend." She says ever so proudly.

"Is that you?"

"Yeah."

"And also-" Beca grunts as the blonde pulls her to sit upright. "You need to pay the rent. Just a little. Uh, every month, we have to do it. Ugh."

"Right."

"Yeah." Beca furrows her eyebrows and glances over at her

"You could get a job, you know." Her friend suddenly backs away a little, taken aback by her response.

"Beca, you're in shock. You need something to eat." Fat Amy then grabs her by the arm and they walk forward into the kitchen. Beca sits down at the table to reach for the candy, but Amy snatches it away. "Not these, though. They're mine." Beca tilts her head to the side in annoyance and rolls her eyes. Just then, the door opens and Chloe walks in.

"Hey, guys."

"Hey, Chloe." Amy says happily.

"Why aren't you guys ready?"

"Why are you wearing that?" Beca stands up and points to the Bellas uniform Chloe is wearing.

"What?" She asks innocently and straightens it out.

"Did you wear that to work?"

"Yeah, underneath my scrubs."

"Awe, sweetie, why?"

"Because it reminds me I was special once." Chloe says sheepishly. "But also because tonight is, you...you know..." Beca and Amy look at each other and are completely confused. " The Bellas reunion... at the Brooklyn aquarium. Hello!"

"That's tonight?"

"Yes."

"Awe yeah!" Fat Amy puts both fists in the air.

"You know what?" Beca start snapping her fingers and gets excited. "I will take it. I need a distraction anyway."

"Yeah. Yes, you do! Whoo!" Fat Amy points at her and bounces up and down on the bed.

"I love it. Here we go!" The brunette then disappeares through the clothes rack.

"What happened?" Chloe asks as she starts to undo the scarf around her neck.

"She got fired today." Amy whispers. Chloe gasps and falls back onto a chair.

"No." She says in disbelief. Beca finishes and walks out dressed in her Bella's uniform and notices the shocked look on Chloe's face.

"What happened?"

"I'm so sorry Becs." Beca turns around and gives Amy a death glare.

"What? She's practically your girlfriend."

"Amy!" The blonde jumps up quickly and goes behind the rack. Beca then turns back to Chloe and sighs.

"For the record I did not get fired, I quit." She grumbles as she puts on her high heels.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Chloe walks towards her and smiles sadly.

"No, I'm okay. But thanks Chlo." Chloe gives her a small smile and leans forward, wrapping her arms around her neck and pulling her into a hug. The brunette almost instantly wraps her arms around her waist and rests her head on her shoulder. Normally Beca would just keep her arms by her sides or awkwardly hug them back. But not Chloe. She doesn't know why, but she always loved receiving hugs from the redhead. They always made her feels safe.

"You're better off you know that?" Chloe says into her hair before pulling back and looking her best friend in the eyes. "You're going to be a great producer one day."

"Thanks." Beca smiles and they continue to lock their eyes with one another. She opens her mouth to say something, but then Amy comes out from the clothes rack.

"Alright lover birds lets go." Beca rolls her eyes in attempt to hide the blush creeping up on her cheeks as Chloe giggles. The pair then untangle themselves and three women head out the door.


	3. Chapter Two: The Reunion

Beca, Chloe, and Fat Amy are on their way to the reunion at the aquarium. It was a quiet ride because for one, Beca was still upset about having to quit but was also mad at Amy for telling Chloe because she knows at one point the older woman would want to sit down and talk to her about it. But for now, her main focus was finally getting to sing with her former Bellas and that put a smile on Beca's face because she in fact did miss her weirdos.

When they pull in the parking lot, they fix themselves up in the mirrors and head toward the entrance. Fat Amy was able to lighten up the mood when she tells the two girls a story of how she was the greatest wrestler in all of Tasmania. Chloe attempts to try and talk to Beca about her job, but the brunette just brushes it off and tells her not to worry about it.

As they make their way towards the room where the other Bellas were, Beca notices that an awkward looking turtle man was in fact staring her down and would occasionally say something in to his phone. She however didn't think about it all too much and just thought that maybe he thought her outfit was odd or something. But the man wouldn't stop. Before she can say something, she spots the other Bellas just a few feet away.

"What's up pitches?!" Fat Amy yells as her, Beca, and Chloe make her way towards Stacie, Cynthia Rose, and Lily.

"I can't wait for us to sing together! I'm so excited." Chloe squeals.

Just then Aubrey, Jessica, and Ashley appear.

"Hey, ladies." The blonde says with a huge smile as she tosses her bag and coat to the two girls behind her. "Lets crush this." Everyone then envelopes them in a hug and soon after Emily comes out of the crowd with her new team behind her.

"Hey Bellas!"

"Thank you so much for inviting us, this means so much." Aubrey says from the back of the group.

"Of course." Emily smiles at them.

"So, what do you want us to sing tonight? A little 'Who Run The World,' some 'Bulletproof"? I brought this, just in case." Chloe whips out a blue solo cup only for Beca to slap it out of her hand.

"Oh God." Emily starts to freak out when she realizes it was a big misunderstanding.

"Our voices are warm." The Bellas demonstrate as they vocalize a high note. One of the new Bellas then feels the need to clear things up and speaks up.

"Um, we didn't invite you guys to sing. We invited you to..."

"Watch." Emily finishes off.

The women are taken aback by their response, totally misinterpreting the whole situation.

"Aca-scuse me?" Aubrey spat.

"I just thought you guys were so busy with your...your awesome jobs and amazing lives." Emily scans the group and their faces to see if it were true, but it wasn't. Beca had quit her job, Chloe had to put her hand inside a cow and try to get into vet school, Aubrey was still running the retreat, Flo ran a smoothie cart, Lily sewed clothing, Cythnia Rose failed flight school, Fat Amy had difficulty performing for "Fat Amy Winehouse," Stacie was a gym trainer, and for Jessica and Ashley? No one knows.

"You know, you've got these great jobs, right?" Emily asks hesitantly. The women finally snap back in to reality and they respond with a bunch of "Yeahs and "I've got one of those."

"Okay. Great." She smiles sheepishly. "I'm such an idiot. I'm sorry."

"No, you didn't know." Chloe reassures her.

The announcer then calls the Barden Bellas.

"Guys again, I am so sorry. We'll catch up after?" The younger girl says apologetically as she starts to walk away with her friends.

"Yeah, yeah sure. Good luck!" Chloe sighs.

The women just stand there, dumbfounded with what just happened. They were all ready and excited to perform but it turns out that they were doing the exact opposite: watching. As the lights went dim, the Bellas started to sing Sit Still Look Pretty by Daya. While they were watching, the women were bored.

"They look like they was all breastfed" Cynthia Rose comments.

"They all definitely have boyfriends." The redhead whines and Beca gave her the "Really?" look. The brunette then notices out of the corner of her eye that awkward looking turtle man she saw before.

"I'll be right back." She whispers to Chloe. The older woman lightly grabs her wrist when she brushes past her.

"You okay, Bec?"

"Yeah, I'll be right back." The brunette smiles and Chloe lets go of her arm.

"Okay."

Beca turns and marches over to him because, what was his deal? He was basically full on stalking her at this point.

"Can I help you?" Beca places her hands on her hips. The man took off his sunglasses (yeah, sunglasses indoors and it's pretty much dark in there. He's even more of a creep now.)

"Just observing." The man says in a British accent. "I'm Theo by the way." He extends his arm to try to reach out for her hand.

"Beca." She deadpans her fingers tighten on her waist. He let his arm drop to his side and chuckles.

"Not a people person I see."

"Not with someone who's 'observing' me." The brunette air quotes with her fingers and takes a step back.

"Look, let me introduce you to my good friend. Chicago!" Theo shouts. The stranger then made his way over with a smile.

"Well, well, well. You finally had the guts to talk to her." He laughs as he put his arm around the turtle man.

"Actually I came over so he'd stop following me."

"Come on man, you can't do that that's weird. Right?" Chicago looks over at Beca and she nods. "Why don't you think I've made a move on the pretty red head?" Beca's eyebrows shoot up. She knew exactly who he was talking about, and that made her blood boil. "I'm just waiting until she's not with a huge group of people." He smiles as he looks in her direction.

"She's not interested, dude." The brunette crosses her arms over her chest.

"Why? Is she in to you?" Chicago faces her, mirroring her stance.

"N-no. I know her and she wouldn't be interested. So just back off." She spat. The man puts his hands up in defense and laughs. The petite woman scoffs and turns, heading back over to the group. By the time she got back, the performance had ended and she makes her way over to her friends.

"Bec, where were you?" Chloe asks as the rest of the girls turn, all eyes now on the brunette.

"Bathroom." Was all she said. Chloe narrows her eyes and was about to say something, before Aubrey cut her off.

"Okay girls. This was...rough so lets head out."

"I'm not leaving until I go to that open bar!" Fat Amy announces.

"I could use a drink or two." Beca states as she follows the aussie. The rest of the women started to walk over. Chloe manages to walk besides Beca and as soon as none of the other girls were looking, she tugs on the brunettes' arm and pulls her off to the side.

"Spill it." The redhead stands in front of her best friend and looks down at her. "The bathroom, really?" Beca drops her head and sighs.

"I just had to clear some things up." She lifts her head to look at the older woman.

"Did it have to do with the two guys I saw you talking to?" Chloe places her hands on her hips. Before Beca could reply, they hear Amy yell from the bar.

"Get your sober butts over here!" Both Beca and Chloe cringe when they got a few looks from the people in the room.

"I'm gonna go grab a beer." Beca attempts to walk by Chloe, but she moves and to stand in front of her again.

"We share the same bed Mitchell. So it's only a matter of time before you tell me."

"Noted." The brunette smiles as both girls make their way over to the bar.

All of them were pretty bummed. They were looking forward to performing again for one last time.

"You guys!" Emily runs up from behind them. "You guys, I am so sorry. I realize that I should not have used the word 'reunion'. I should have said that it was an excuse to see each other. I really didn't think that out. I'm sorry."

"No, no, no. You guys were so great." Chloe reassures her. "And this was a really nice chance for us to get together. Right, ladies?" The women respond with, "Yeah sures," and "Oh yeses."

"I was supposed to go to my brother's wedding, but this is nice too." Flo comments as she looks at Emily. The younger women suddenly feels terrible and an awkward situation silence falls over the group.

"Bellas, a toast." Chloe raises her drink and the rest of the women follow suit. "To the most amazing group of women I have ever known."

"Aye!" The girls cheer.

"I would do anything to sing with you guys again." The women open their mouths to cheer again but are cut off.

"Anything! I mean, really, I could just CRAP myself!" The redhead yells on the word "Crap" and sobs as she takes a drink.

"Cheers..." They all say awkwardly and clink their glasses together.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. I'm having a crazy idea." Aubrey speaks up and she puts her glass down before continuing. "Okay, I've mentioned that my dad is in the Army and, like, basically killed Osama Bin Laden, right?" Beca furrows her eyebrows.

"Some new information in that sentence, but okay."

"Well, what I mean is, he's kind of a big deal in the Army. And every year, the USO puts on this performance to entertain and support the troops. And this year, DJ Khaled is hosting. He's got, like, a gazillion hit songs, and he's super famous. I saw him on a tax commercial." The women gasp. "What if I could get us an invite?" The blonde looks around, hoping that her former Bellas were onboard.

"To sing?" Chloe croaks.

"No, to run military dark ops." Aubrey states sarcastically. Lily smiles creepily, liking the idea.

"Yes, of course, to sing." She laughs, and Lily's smile fades as she drops her head.

"Is there a competition?" The redhead asks eagerly. "There should always be a competition."

"Oh um... well, well, no but...let's sing together again. And...and maybe I'll see my dad. Or maybe I won't, you know, because he has something really important to do. Or maybe I'll be the most important thing in his life this time. Maybe. Who's with me?" The blonde says hopefully. The women give her a warm smile, because they know what he's like. Her father was always hard on her growing up and when they did spend time together, he barked orders and he wasn't really the father Aubrey wanted. The father Aubrey deserved. "Who's with me?"

"Me." Chloe grins as she holds up her beer.

"Yeah. Suddenly I have a lot of free time, so hell yeah." The brunette smiles and raises her beer. Chloe's smile grew even bigger, knowing that the girl has no excuse not to go.

"Well, I just got kicked out of flight school for killing 300 fake people." Cynthia Rose states.

"I hate fake people." The aussie spat.

"I hate a fake b*tch." Both women slam their hands down on the table.

"Can you fly when you're eight months pregnant?" Stacie asks.

"What?"

"No."

"Um."

It takes a second, but it all finally clicks.

"Look!" Stacie squeals as she shows them her very pregnant stomach.

"That's...eight months pregnant?" Beca asks, dumbfounded.

"You guys didn't notice?" The taller woman laughs.

"Well, congratulations!" Flo hugs her from the side as everyone continues to congratulate her.

"Do you know who the father is?" Chloe asks as she leans forward on the table.

"Eh." Stacie brushes it off, the rest of the girls awkwardly look around at each other, not knowing what to say.

"Happy accidents." Aubrey exclaims.

"Okay, well, Stacie's out. So I guess, Emily, you're in." Beca snaps her fingers as she looks at the younger girl.

"Oh yeah for sure." Emily agrees and nods her head. She pauses for a moment and confusion washes over her face. "Was I not always in?" She asks hesitantly.

"Oh no no. Of course!" Aubrey and the rest of her friends reassures her. Emily smiles and nods her head.

"Oh, cool. I...okay."

The Bellas then clink their glasses together and cheer. Once they finished their drinks, they decided to go back home and pack to leave tomorrow. All of them couldn't wait to finally perform and hang out with each other again like old times.


	4. Chapter Three: I Promise I Will Tell You

The car ride was silent the way back to Beca, Chloe, and Fat Amy's apartment. Amy would crack a few jokes here and there and Beca would occasionally laugh and join in. She was able to fool herself and Amy, but Chloe wasn't buying it. The redhead may have acted like she forgot about her and Beca's conversation earlier, which the brunette had believed that her friend had truly forgotten about it, but she was only fooling herself.

Beca pulls out her keys from her purse and unlocks the door of the apartment. Amy pushes by the two women and makes her way past the clothes rack.

"I have a killer headache so you two better not keep me up with your shenanigans." The blonde groans. Shortly after she passes out. Not even a trumpet could wake the woman up.

"Yeah, I think I'm gonna crash." Beca kicks off her heels as she makes her way over to the clothing rack. She quickly changes and walks over to the fridge to grab a water.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Chloe asks as she approaches the brunette.

"Right, I'll brush extra good in the morning." She attempts to slip past the older woman, but Chloe grabs her wrist for the third time that night.

"We're going to go that futon and talk." She glares at her, Beca rolls her eyes.

"Can't we talk about it tomorrow?" The younger girl whines. "I'm exhau-"

"Now, Mitchell." The redhead's grip tightens on Beca's wrist.

"Ugh, fine." Beca groans.

"Good!" Chloe smiles and Beca's mouth drops.

"Seriously? You looked like you were just about to kill me two seconds ago!" The brunette hisses.

"I know how to break you." Chloe smirks. "C'mon." She tugs on her best friend's arm and they sit on the edge of their bed.

"Okay so," Beca sighs as she ran her fingers through her hair. "I approached this guy, his name's Theo.

"That guy that looked like a turtle?"

"Yes!" Beca chuckles. "Anyways he was following me around like a creep and I asked what his deal was."

"And?"

"Well he...he."

_2 hours earlier_

_After the group of girls left the bar, Beca had to use the bathroom (actually use it)._

_"I'll meet you guys at the car. I'll be right back." Before Chloe could protest, Beca headed off towards the bathroom. As soon as she disappeared around the corner, a pair of large hands grabbed her and pushed her against the wall._

_"Hello, love." Theo smiled as he held his forearm up to her throat._

_"Can't you take a hint?" Beca snarled as she tried to wriggle free from his grasp._

_"Look, I'm sorry. We started off on the wrong foot." He stepped back and extended his arm. "Hi, I'm Theo." The woman didn't flinch, shooting daggers in to his eyes. "Okay I can see you're still not in to handshakes."_

_"What exactly do you want, Theo?"_

_"I overheard you and your friends. You plan on going to the USO tour right?" Beca's eyebrows shot up._

_"Wow you've gone full on stalker haven't you?" Theo chuckled and dropped his head._

_"Yeah well your friend kind of has a big mouth."_

_"Watch it." Beca snapped. Aubrey and Beca have gotten close after the brunette graduated. They surprisingly began to enjoy each other's company and the two of them along with Chloe would hang out whenever any of their schedules were free. Now, if anyone were to tell Aubrey that after their first encounter... _

_She would've said they're out of their aca-minds. _

_"I know you think I'm weird."_

_"Understatement of the year."_

_"Jeez," Theo laughed. "You've got a cold exterior, but deep down I can see your potential. And if my gut is right, I want you to eventually meet DJ Khalid."_

"Whoa wait, Becs that's huge!" Chloe exclaims. Beca failed to mention the other parts, only telling Chloe about Theo potentially introducing her to DJ Khalid.

"No yeah that's exactly what I thought. I had just met the dude and he already figured me out. Creepy right?"

"Yeah, a little bit. Anyways, what else happened?" The redhead asks eagerly. Beca thinks about how the rest of the conversation went down between her and the man. She can't tell Chloe, she'll flip.

_Back to earlier_

_"You have to do this, Beca." Theo stepped closer until they were inches apart. "For your friend's sake."_

_"You lay a finger on any of them I swear I'll-"_

_"You'll do what Beca?" He cut her off and scoffed. "You're just this petite, fragile, insecure, **woman**." _

_Beca clenched her jaw and this. She saw a figure out of the corner of her eye, but she couldn't quite make out who it was._

_"Fine. I'll meet Khalid. But you come in any close proximity of my friends, it's off." Beca managed to push Theo off of her and she bolted towards the exit._

(End)

"Hey," Chloe lightly shakes Beca, snapping the woman out of her trance as she looks back up at the redhead. "You alright? Did something else happen?" Beca hesitates for a moment, a part of her wants to tell Chloe that the man had threatened her, but she knew that her best friend wouldn't be able to handle it.

"Uh, no that was it. Just a super weird turtle man." Beca chuckles. There's a moment of silence, Chloe studies her face and her body language. Beca hasn't made eye contact with her once, which is already a huge sign she's hiding something. But, knowing how she is, the redhead didn't pry.

"I'm gonna say I believe you, even though I don't, because I know that whatever is bothering you, must be pretty bad because you won't even tell me about it, but," Chloe places her hands on Beca's and gives it a gentle squeeze. "Promise me one thing?" Beca looks her in the eyes and a small smile spreads across her lips.

"Sure."

"If I notice that you start to distance yourself from me and the rest of the Bellas, well, me specifically, don't think for a second that I won't get the truth out of you."

"Well, someone's demanding." The brunette laughs.

"I'm serious Beca." Chloe says sternly. Beca instantly sobers up and her deep blue eyes lock on to Chloe's breathtakingly crystal blue ones. It takes a minute or so for the brunette to catch her breath. "You'll tell me right?"

Beca rolls her eyes and scoffs. Thankful that the intense staring stopped, which was making her insides churn moments earlier. "It doesn't sound like I have much of a ch- OW!" The redhead punches the younger girl in the shoulder. "Jeez Beale, when did you get so aggressive?" Beca rubs the aching spot as her best friend giggles.

"It seems to be working right?" Chloe continues to laugh while her best friend gives her a death stare. "But in all seriousness." She calms down and places her hands back on Beca's.

"I promise will tell you." Beca sighs and intertwines her hands with Chloe's.

"Good, because if you don't," The older woman makes a fist and pulls her arm back, raising it up in one minute swift motion. Beca yelps and quickly jumps away from her.

"Dude!" She pulls the covers up to her chin and Chloe cocks her head back, laughing hysterically.

"So much for badass Beca Mitchell."

"Oh fuck you." Beca turns on her side away from Chloe.

"I love you!" Chloe launches herself on the brunette and hugs her. Beca attempts to shove her off, but the redhead tangles her legs and locks their ankles.

"Bite me." She shot back.

"You're just mad because you can take a hit." Beca whips around and faces her best friend.

"Not when it comes out of nowhere! Excuse me if I'm not Jackie Chan!" The brunette hisses. Chloe tries to stifle a laugh, but ends up bursting out laughing. Beca eventually joins in and shakes her head. "We should really go to sleep." Chloe sleepily agrees and slowly untangles herself from Beca. She faces away from Chloe again and turns off her light. "Good night Chlo."

"Good night Becs."

Beca was up for the next few hours. She looks over her shoulder to make sure that Chloe was fast asleep before she starts to sob in to her pillow. She would never tell Chloe what happened. She'd have to make something up. Chloe was very protective and if she found out, she would probably punch the man much harder than she punched Beca. Also, she didn't want to be a burden to her or her other friends. So, Beca decides to keep her mouth shut and just forget about it.


	5. Chapter Four: Worse Than Expected

**For those of you commenting, I'm still new to this site so I have no idea how to reply or even if you can haha. So I'm just gonna have it below: **

**_Tomboi253- "Was the accident chapter like a preview and then the other chapters cover what happens before?"_**

**_-Yes, exactly. I will clear that up just in case so that it doesn't confuse any future readers. _**

**_SuperMarioGrayson- "What happened to her, just curious."_**

**_-It will all be explained in the end. _**

**_Anyways, enjoy chapter 4 :) (I apologize for the long wait)_**

"You better get your tiny butt up before we have a cuddle session!" Amy yells from the other side of the clothing rack. Beca's eyes shoot open.

"I'm up!" The brunette yells back as she launches off her bed and falls on the floor. Chloe was making breakfast and turns when she heard the loud noise.

"Becs? Where are you?" Beca jumps up from her side of the futon and brushes herself off, trying to act casual

"I'm okay, I'm fine." She rubs the back of her head and curses the nightstand. Amy pops her head through the clothes with a disappointed look.

"Damn, I was really looking forward to hugging you short stack." The Aussie snickers.

"You mean smothering me?" Beca growls, but a smirk plays the corner of her lips.

"Awe c'mon you love it."

"Sure, Aims." Beca went to walk by her friend when Amy smacks her as hard as she can in the butt. "AMY!" The younger girl whines. "Damn you..." She put her hands on her butt and winces.

"Don't be a smart ass and it won't happen." Amy laughs and Beca gave her friend a death glare. "You still love me shorty." The brunette rolls her eyes, although there was no anger behind it.

"Yeah, and you're lucky I do."

"Wait a minute," Chloe walks over with a shocked expression on her face and points at Beca with the spatula she was cooking eggs and bacon with in her hand.

"Beca Mitchell has a soft side?" The red head dramatically places her hand on her heart.

"You can kiss our little cuddling sessions goodbye." Beca smirks when Chloe's eyes narrow and she crosses her arms.

"You did not."

"Oh yes I did." The younger girl now stood in front of the ginger. "Just to show you how much of a badass I really am." Chloe tilts her head and gives the younger girl a challenging look.

"You asked for it." The ginger glances over the woman's shoulder to see that Amy was already behind the brunette.

"Asked for what, exactly?" Before Beca can do anything, Chloe lunges at her and Amy comes up from behind and all three women fall back on the futon. Both women begin tickling and kissing the brunette on her face. "You guys suck!" Beca shrieks before she falls in to a fit of giggles.

"Take back what you said!" Chloe yells as she attacks the petite woman's ribcage.

"Never! I have a reputation to- NO NOT THERE AMY STOP!" The blonde grabs ahold of her feet and starts to frantically tickle her as Beca kicks and squirms in laughter. "Okay okay I give up I'm sorry!"

"Sorry for what?" Chloe mocks the woman as she holds her down by the wrists while Amy continues to tickle her feet.

"I'm sorry for threatening our cuddle sessions!" Both women immediately stop their actions and Chloe smiles down at her best friend while she tries catching her breath.

"Good girl." The ginger lightly pinches her cheeks and gets off of her. Chloe and Amy then walk over to the stove and proceed to eat breakfast. Amy looks over her shoulder at the brunette, who was giving both of them death stares.

"Awe c'mon, it wasn't that bad." The blonde chuckles and sits down at the small table in the kitchen. Beca just stays quiet as she gets up and brushes past the both of them and reaches in the cabinet for a plate.

"Becs, you alright?" Chloe puts a hand on the younger women's shoulder.

"I don't know how I don't hate you guys after that." She chuckles as she turns to look at the two women. "I'm gonna miss you guys."

"What're you talking about?"

"Yeah, we're not going anywhere." Amy chimes in. Beca just shrugs her shoulders and shakes her head.

"You're right, never mind forget what I said." She picks up the spatula and serves herself eggs before she sits down and starts eating. "How're your jobs going?" Beca asks with a mouthful of food. Chloe and Amy look at each other, concerned for their best friend. Before either of them could reply, Chloe's phone starts to ring.

"It's Aubrey." Beca hands the phone to Chloe and she answers it, putting it on speaker.

"Hey Aubrey what's-"

"You three better be ready! I'm outside of the apartment!" Aubrey interrupts her. Beca's eyes shoot open. She quickly put her plate and fork in the sink and ran to the futon to shove all of her clothes in her suitcase. Amy went behind the clothes rack and brought her suitcase to the door.

"Be ready in two." Chloe went to her side of the futon and put her shoes on.

"Good, now when-" Aubrey was cut of by the sound of Beca struggling.

"Stupid fucking shoe get on-AH!" The brunette loses her balance and face plants on the floor. No one says anything, Beca slowing gets up and looks around. "Don't. Laugh." Before she could finish, Amy is already on the floor laughing and Chloe has to turn away.

"What happened, is she alright?" The blonde speaks up from the phone.

"Beca fell, but it's okay she's close to the ground anyways." Amy says in between laughs.

"Hey!"

"Just don't do that during our performances, Beca." Aubrey says sternly.

"Yes, because I _plan _this stuff." Beca rolls her eyes.

"We're coming down now, Bree." Chloe reassures her and opens the door.

"Hurry, please. I don't want to miss our flight."

"I know I know, we're walking out the door now." Chloe hangs up the phone and the three woman proceed to walk out the door and down the stairs with their luggage.

It turns out that Aubrey rented a van and the rest of their friends had already been picked up by the blonde.

"Pick it up ladies lets go!" Aubrey yells as she rolls down the window.

"Awe man," Amy stops walking as she held her head.

"Amy, are you okay?" Beca turns around and walks up to her friend.

"I just got bad flashbacks to Bellas practices. It took more effort doing cardio than when I wrestled that gator in Tasmania." The brunette laughs and shakes her head.

"One time you got away with vertical running." Amy nods her head and smiles, remembering just how pissed Aubrey looked back then.

Chloe, Beca, and Amy tossed their suit cases in the back and got in the van. Amy got in the front seat with Aubrey to keep her company.

"Over here, Becs." The ginger motions for the younger girl to sit next to her. Beca plops down beside her, puts her head back, and closes her eyes. However, she senses the ginger practically drilling holes in to the side of her head.

"You're staring." Beca opens her eyes to looks at her best friend, who portrayed a worried look.

"How come you said nevermind?"

"I was just talking out loud Chlo, nothing to worry about." The younger woman reassures her as she closes her eyes again.

"Just please don't shut me out." The redhead puts her head on Beca's shoulder and sighs.

"I won't, I promise." Beca half smiles and wraps her arm around the woman's shoulder, before she fell in to a deep sleep. Chloe couldn't help the smile that crept into her face at the closeness and the fact that Beca didn't visibly tense up at the contact, but rather hold her in an embrace.

———————————————————————————

The women all got to the airport and boarded their plane in the nick of time. They took their seats and after only a few hours, they landed. Neither of them could wait to finally perform with each other and spend their time together like they used to back in college.

—————————————-

"Hola, senoritas." John whoops as he and Gail make their way off of another plane. The Bellas turn when they heard the all too familiar voice of John as he descends from one of the planes with Gail right along side him.

"Where'd you guys even come from?" Beca groans and throws her arms in the air.

"A little town called Persistence, sweet cheeks." Gail exclaims.

"Look at this ladies," The man holds up what was dangling around his neck. "All-access passes. We're tall enough for all the rides. You can run but you cannot hide."

"This d'aca'mentary is happening!" Gail waves her pass frantically. "We're gonna film this whole thing. It's gonna be beautiful. We're making a beautiful d'aca'mentary. In fact, we gotta set up." She motions for John to follow her. "Where are we gonna set up, John?"

"I want to give you the..." They start to walk away when Flo speaks up.

"Papi chulos, straight ahead." The Bellas all look in the direction the girl was looking and notice two men walking up to them.

"Welcome to Spain, Bellas." The taller man speaks up, Beca knew she recognized him. It was the man who said he'd hit on Chloe.

Chicago.

"You have got to be kidding me." Beca mumbles under breath.

"On behalf of the Department of Defense, we would like to welcome you to Naval Air Station Rota, Spain. And a sincere thank you for coming out to entertain our troops and their families." The Bellas had all been smiling at the man's words, but Beca had been giving him a death stare the whole time. "We're excited for this tour. My name's Chicago. Over here to my left is Captain Bernie, who we like to call Zeke."

"Ladies." The man nods and Bellas acknowledge him.

"We're gonna be with you the whole tour as your escorts and security details."

"Oh fuck me." Beca rolls her eyes and mumbles.

"Hey no fair I called dibs." Fat Amy nudges her shoulder and all eyes were now on the two. Beca turns and catches the redhead's eye and notices that she looks...annoyed? Beca's not sure, she's never been the greatest at reading people but the one things Chloe isn't is happy.

"He's not your type." Chloe snaps and the brunette stares at her wide eyed. She was about to say something when the Aussie raises her hand and Chicago calls on her.

"Question. Will we be showering together?" There was an awkward silence and the man clears his throat. He decides to change the subject and announce that there was a soundcheck. "Okay-"

"Question," Amy interrupts as she takes a half step forward. "Um, so this is the first base. Will we be going to second base with you guys?" Once again both men were dumbfounded and didn't even know how to really react to what she said. "And then, maybe a few days later, we'll go to third base?"

"That's a 'no' for me." Zeke finally speaks up and Chicago chuckles and shakes his head no.

"Why don't we get you to your first venue? Come on." He stares at Beca and then winks at Chloe, which resulted in a sour taste in the petite woman's mouth from the interaction. The Bellas start to head over to the stage when she tugs on the redhead's arm and pulls her off to the side.

"I have to tell you something, but you have to promise me that you won't question it."

"Everything okay?" Chloe gives her best friend a concerned look but Beca can't bring herself to look back at her. "Beca..." She holds the younger woman's face in her hands, but Beca still looks down at the floor.

"Rebecca Mitchell, look at me right-"

"I can't share a room with you!" The brunette blurts out and finally looks up at her best friend.

"What?" Chloe let her hands fall to her sides and it hurt Beca to see the disappointed look on her face, knowing she was the cause of it.

"You and Aubrey are sharing a room and Amy and I are sharing a room. Look I didn't plan it out it was Aubrey okay? She admitted that she misses you." Beca tries to sound as convincing as she could, but Chloe just narrows her eyes in disbelief.

"You may be able to mix songs well but you're a sucky liar, Mitchell." She crosses her arms and cocks her head to the side. Beca lets out a deep breath and gives her an apologetic look.

"It's for your own good Chlo. You'll thank me later." She then attempts to walk past the older woman. Chloe uncrossed her arms and her hand whips out to yank Beca back.

"You don't get to decide that!" Chloe snaps. "Seriously, what the hell is going on?" Beca winces at the sharpness in Chloe's tone. The redhead never really raised her voice, or even swore for that matter. So the brunette knows Chloe is pretty damn angry.

"Ladies, get over here now!" Aubrey yells. Chloe doesn't dare move as she still holds her death grip on the younger girl's forearm.

"You promised me."

"I'm not shutting you out Chloe, I promise. Trust me on this one, okay?"

"How can I trust you when you won't even let me in?" All anger is gone from Chloe's face and is now replaced with hurt and confusion. Tears start to pool her eyes and finally releases her best friend's arm, heading over with the rest of the Bellas with her arms wrapped tightly around her body. Beca squeezes her eyes shut and drops her head.

"Shit."


	6. Chapter Five: A Little Game

**Jeez its been a while...so sorry guys. Please enjoy this chapter!**

Beca tries to catch up to the ginger to reassure her that everything will be okay, but Chloe made it clear that she wasn't in the mood for another made up excuse when she storms off to the front of the group, distancing herself from the brunette. The other Bellas notice, and Amy gave the Beca a questioning look. The woman just shrugs her shoulders and mouths,

"Working it out." The blonde nods her head and turns back around to look at Chloe. She didn't have to ask to know that whatever it was or whatever Beca said, hit Chloe hard. However, they decide that now was not the time or place to ask questions, so they turn their attention up to the front and meet their competitors. Chicago introduces the three groups. There's Saddle Up, Evermoist, Young Sparrow, and DJ Dragon Nutz.

"Hey guys! Come say hey to the new group!" Chicago waives for them to come over. He then looks over his shoulder and winks at Chloe, who giggles. Amy sees this and she assumes Beca did too. The brunette clenches her jaw and crosses her arms over her chest. Anyone who saw that whole thing could see Beca literally fuming.

"_She giggled? Seriously?" _Beca thinks to herself as she rolls her eyes.

She knew exactly what type of guy he was, and Chloe should not be flirting with a pig like him. Chicago walks back towards Beca and purposely bumps into her.

"Watch it!" She barks and he puts his hands up in the air and acts like it was an accident.

"Someone's feisty." The man chuckles and walks off. It took everything for the brunette to not slap that stupid smile off of his face. Amy walks up beside her and asks what was wrong.

"Guy's a prick."

"A good looking one though." Amy smiles, but it quickly drops from the death glare her friend had given her. The blonde slowly steps away and stands behind Lily. Beca catches Chloe's eyes narrowing at her, before she's facing towards the front, her attention now back on the groups.

"Great, now she actually knows something is up." Beca groans.

"Hello. We're the Bellas," Aubrey begins. "Formerly of Barden University and currently of life." They all say hello except for Evermoist. They just introduce themselves and continue to look the women up and down.

"Oh if you're wondering, our presence here has nothing to do with the nationally televised 'Salute to the Troops' special where DJ Khaled is going to pick one group to open for him at the end of this tour." Serenity, one of the members of Evermoist, informs the Bellas.

"That was a lot of exposition." Flo whispers.

"So there is a competition. I knew it." Chloe gets excited as she looks over at Aubrey and smiles widely.

"And so there is." The blonde replies reflecting the same smile from her friend, and clearly pleased as well. Aubrey knows Chloe is going through something, but she also knows just how happy competitions make her, so she encourages it because she likes competitions just as much.

"Idiots!" The groups turn to see John and Gail laughing.

"What, do you think we care about just watching you guys? It's a competition! Hello!" The pair continues to laugh and everyone just ignores them. Serenity leans on the leader, Calamity's shoulder and speaks up.

"You guys just sing other people's songs, right? Like a cover band." The Bellas were hurt by her comment and a bunch of no's were said back.

"Actually, Emily writes original songs for the Bellas." Chloe points back at the younger girl.

"I mean, I don't really do it anymore. I kind of did that one, and then I-"

"Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey." Aubrey hisses. "You with us or against us?" Emily smiles shyly and shoots her an apologetic look.

"And it was one of your dads who gave you the spot on the tour, right?" Serenity scans the women and the other two groups snicker. Aubrey's at a loss for words and freezes up.

"Um..."

"Guys, stop." Emily whispers. "They just don't like sharing the spotlight, so they're trying to intimidate us. Lets just take the high road and do what we do." Cynthia-Rose smirks and looks at the younger girl.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"A Riff-Off!" Amy exclaims. Calamity rolls her eyes, clearly unamused by the behaviour of the women.

"What is a Riff-Off?"

"A Riff-Off is a little game that we like to play to see who's better. We start with a topic. Um...let's say 'party songs.' And then we lay down a beat." Chloe motions over to Lily who quickly steps up and starts to beatbox.

Flo and Fat Amy take the lead and start singing together, then Aubrey starts to sing 'Shut Up and Dance' with Chloe joining in. Beca wasn't really planning on getting into it, but she wants to get the recent events out of her head and just enjoy her time with her friends. She swerves in from behind the blonde and her and Cynthia Rose begin to sing 'Ignition'. While the pair are doing so, Beca catches a glimpse of Theo sitting with DJ Khaled. She quickly composes herself and luckily Amy steps in with Emily and starts to sing. The brunette lets herself fall in the back of the group and feels the redhead's eyes on her. Now, Chloe knows that there is also something else wrong. Amy being Amy, goes overboard and holds her note a little longer than what people expected. Once she stops, the Bellas proudly look around, impressed by what they all managed to whip up on the spot after it being so long.

"Yeah, so you guys saw what we did there, right?" Chloe says ever so proudly.

"So...it's singing." Serenity doesn't sound all too impressed.

"No well...we took the last word of the old song and matched it with the first word of the new song, but you stay on tempo, stay on beat, stay on pitch and, of course, keep it in the relative key." Chloe beams.

"That was great. That was really well done." Calamity says sarcastically as she claps her hands. Aubrey cocks her head to the side and narrows her eyes.

"Okay, okay. Round two. Let's keep it simple this time. What about...'artists you didn't know were Jewish'?" Evermoist nod their heads and Charity starts it off and steps in the middle, beatboxing. Calamity was swung forward on a huge instrument case by Veracity and starts to sing Fly away in front of the Bellas. Saddle Up joins in singing 'One More Night' and Evermoist claps along with Charity using her drumsticks to make a beat. The Bellas were in complete shock.

"You can't use those sticks." Chloe points out, but they ignore her. "We like to keep it strictly oral." She raises her hand up to her mouth for more emphasis. Young Sparrow and DJ Dragon Nutz then mix in with another song.

"You're not on the same team!" Aubrey whines.

Chloe was clearly getting annoyed as well, and after a few more seconds, the redhead jumps in and steps forward singing, 'Love Me Harder'. The other groups back up and she motions for the rest of the Bellas to join in. The redhead was too caught up in singing to notice Chicago looking her up and down. His pupils are dilated, showing that he was impressed, but mainly turned on. Beca pretty much throws up in her mouth at this. Emily was ending the song, until she's cut off by a male singing, 'If I Were a Boy'. Everyone turns their heads to see the couple of soldiers that are nearby start to sing and beatbox. The Bellas were just confused while Serenity looks somewhat impressed.

"Beyoncé's not Jewish." Aubrey states while looking around at the rest of her friends.

"Okay, you guys aren't even in a group." Chloe spat. But they continue for a few more seconds and then finally stop.

"Hey, guys, still need that level check for vocals." The guy from behind the soundboard yells. The bands walk up on stage and get into their positions.

"Hey, hey, hey, we're not done yet." Aubrey whines as she looks up at Serenity, who was gripping the microphone. The woman winks at the blonde and smirks.

"Oh, baby, we're just getting started." The rest of the members are ready to play, and Aubrey was clearly losing it. All of the Bellas huddle up to try and thinking of something fast.

"Come on, we gotta do this. We gotta think of something." The blonde whispers and Chloe speaks up.

"All right, next category. Zombie Apocalypse." Serenity nods her head and starts singing the beginning of 'Zombie'. The Bellas all groan and are even more annoyed when Charity start to play the drums and one of the members from Saddle Up strums his guitar. Young Sparrow and DJ Dragon Nutz eventually join in and the girls were at a loss. Beca was bopping her head and finally thinks of a song to add in.

"But I'm only human," She belts out and a boost of confidence courses through her not only when Amy puts an encouraging hand on her shoulder, but also the fact that she made the other bands shut right up.

"And I bleed when I fall down. I'm only human," The brunette starts to hear her friends join in, which results in a smile breaking out on her face. She fails to notice however when Calamity picks up her guitar and walks toward the front of the stage.

"And I crash and I break down. Your words in my head, knives in my heart. You fill me up and then I fall apart and I'm on-" Beca is cut off abruptly at the loud sound of the guitar rift and a fiddle. The band picks up where they left off and sang altogether.

"They just disqualified themselves by using musical instruments." Aubrey states cockily. Beca was too furious to reply and storms off.

"Beca?" Cynthia-Rose calls after her, but she just ignores her and rounds the corner. Beca rubs her hands over her face and huffs, blinding herself from seeing a man approaching her. She suddenly felt strong hands on her shoulders and is slammed up against the wall, hitting the back of her head.

"What the f-"

"Ahh the Bella Bitch." Chicago sneers as he holds Beca by the throat. Theo comes up from behind him with a cocky grin.

"My my Beca, you've got a lovely voice."

"Fuck off." Beca spits on both Theo and Chicago. Theo wipes it off and taps Chicago on the shoulder. He releases his hand from Beca's neck and she bends over holding it, gasping for breath. She attempts to straighten up, only to have Theo's fist come in contact with her face and the brunette falls over in pain.

"You tell anyone about this, and I will hurt your friends. I'll hurt her." Theo didn't have to clarify who it was, Beca turns her head and looks up at the two men. Her lip is bleeding and she's fighting to hold back the tears.

"The hell kind of a hit was that, Theo?"

"I'd like to see you try." Theo shoves Chicago. Chicago was about to punch him, but then decides it would make more sense to take it out on the girl. He kicks her in the face and Beca yelps. The two men laugh and walk off. Once they were gone, Beca cries uncontrollably, before getting up and running off in the other direction.

\--

Once Beca got the key to her room, she storms off up the stairs and hobbles down the hallway, clutching her stomach from the nausea. She busts through the door and rips off her jacket, throwing her suitcase at the end of her bed before pacing back and forth the room, a million thoughts running through her head.

She runs to the bathroom to look at her injury, but hesitates to look in the mirror. Just from the throbbing in her left eye, she knows it's bad. Once she had the courage to look up, she broke down in tears again. Her lip is bleeding and her left eye was already starting to bruise.

"How the hell am I supposed to hide this from them?" The brunette then hears a knock at the door before Aubrey comes in all flustered.

"Those Aca-assholes don't even know how to play the game Chlo!" The blonde yells and throws up her arms in anger.

Shit. Beca closes her eyes and groans, realizing that she's in the wrong room.

Chloe's room.

"Yeah, they have no respect for us, which is really rude." Chloe plops down on one of the beds and shakes her head. They both lay in silence before Aubrey speaks up.

"Do you think that you could maybe..."

"Aubrey I just sat dooown." Chloe whines as she turns to face her friend.

"I know, but it would really make me feel better." Aubrey gives Chloe puppy eyes and the redhead just rolls her eyes before standing back up. She drags her feet towards the door and opens it, she then whips her head around to look at the blonde.

"Milk chocolate, right?"

"You know me so well!" Aubrey squeaks.

"Mmhm." Chloe smiles, then exits the room, closing the door behind her. Beca was still in the bathroom and waited a few minutes before slowly opening the door.

"Aubrey?" Beca croaks. The blonde jumps at the noise, almost falling off the bed.

"Jesus Christ Beca you gave me a-" She stops once she looked over at the brunette. "Oh my God, what the hell ha-"

"Please don't tell Chloe."


	7. Chapter Six: Cover Up

"Beca, what the hell happened to you?" Aubrey slowly walks towards the girl and examines her face.

"I-uh...I tripped?"

"Bullshit." The blonde reaches up and applies a small amount of pressure to Beca's left eye with her thumb. The younger girl jerks her head back slightly and winces, inhaling sharply.

"Please don't tell Chloe, she'll flip." Beca begs. The older woman was about to argue, but she notices the tears forming in her eyes. "Please, Aubrey." The blonde nods.

"Fine. I won't tell Chloe."

"Thank you."

"I'll help you cover it up on one condition," Aubrey raises her pointer finger in front of the brunette's face before continuing. "You tell me exactly what happened. I mean everything."

Beca closes her eyes and lets out a deep breath before reopening them and looking Aubrey in the eye.

"...Okay."

"Lets do it in the bathroom. I'll lock the door in case Chloe comes back." Beca nods and follows her.

Aubrey turns and locks the door and Beca sits on the toilet seat. Aubrey looks over her shoulder and snickers.

"You do know you're not tall right?"

"Fuck off ." The brunette flips her off, before both her and Aubrey start to laugh. Beca stands up and hoists herself up on the sink. The older woman opens up her makeup bag to the right of the sink and pulls out foundation and a brush.

"Unfortunately I'm not going to be able to cover up that cut on your lip. It won't stop bleeding." Beca touches her bottom lip and looks down to see blood on her pointer finger.

"Maybe she won't notice?" Beca looks up at Aubrey, who just scoffs.

"It's Chloe. Nothing gets by her."

"That's true. I'll try come up with something."

"It better be convincing. If not she'll get it out of you however she can, trust me." Aubrey shakes her head, Beca is intrigued and raises her eyebrows.

"Oh yeah? Sounds like there's a story behind that."

"Yep," Aubrey starts to work on the girls eye and continues. "It was my Sophomore year..."

(Flashback)

It was Aubrey's Sophomore year of college when she met Chloe Beale. Aubrey and Bologna Barb were best friends at the time, but when Aubrey started to get close to Chloe, Barb got jealous. So, one day out in the courtyard, she decided to expose the blonde. Barb said that Aubrey found Chloe annoying, which wasn't true. Saying how she was only her friend because she felt bad. Aubrey slowly backed up and tried to tell Chloe that it wasn't true, but the redhead bolted for her friend and Aubrey yelped and ran towards her dorm. Chloe was hot on her heels.

"Get over here, right now!" The redhead screamed.

"I never said that! She's lying!" Aubrey shrieked when she felt the girl's hands grab her arm. She yanked it away and kept on running. She rounded the corner and bursted into her room. The blonde attempted to close the door, but the younger girl pushed her way through and tackled her friend to the ground.

"Get off of me!" Aubrey squirmed under her grasp.

"Not until you tell me the truth." Chloe was now on top of her and pinned her arms to the ground.

"I felt bad because you're a Freshman and you're new here, but I like being your friend Chloe! I know you have other friends, I'm not being your friend because I feel bad for you!"

"You're lying."

"Chloe you're my best friend. I wouldn't lie to you." Aubrey pleaded and Chloe slowly released her grip and got off of her friend.

"I'm you're best friend?" The redhead asked, not quite believing what the older woman had said.

"Yeah. You're kind, bubbly, and most genuine person I know. I actually like being around you. Barb always made fun of me in front of other people. But when you came, you stood up for me, and I knew that's what a best friend's supposed to be." By the time Aubrey finished, Chloe had a cheek splitting grin.

"Well in that case, you're my best friend too." The redhead beamed. There was a comfortable silence until the blonde spoke up.

"Uh, for the future, can you not pin me to the ground? We could at least trying talking first."

"You ran away!" Chloe exclaimed. "And hey, clearly it's effective."

The blonde chuckled and shook her head.

"One day you're gonna do it to the wrong person."

(End of flashback)

"That definitely sounds like Chloe." Beca chuckles.

"Yeah, she hasn't done that since. At least not pin me down."

"What else has she done?" Beca asks, trying to get the blonde to keep talking.

"Nope, nice try Rebecca." Beca cringes hearing her full name and Aubrey laughs, turning to get more foundation before continuing. "Now... what happened?

Beca starts back at the aquarium, where she first met Theo (turtle man). Aubrey can't help but laugh at that. She then tells her about Chicago. The blonde rolls her eyes and scoffs.

"He's an aca-asshole." She spat.

"Tell me about it."

The brunette then proceeds to tell her about what they had said to her after all the Bellas went to the bar.

"He threatened you?!" Aubrey yells with her eyes shooting wide open.

"That's not even the best part. After the Riff Off, they threatened to hurt you guys. To hurt Chloe." Beca's voice cracks and she drops her head.

"Oh my God, Beca I'm so sorry." Aubrey stops doing her makeup and puts the brush down on the sink. When she turns to look at her friend, she can tell she's fighting back the tears. The older woman grabs her hands.

"If anything else happens, you let me know, okay?"

"You serious?"

"Dixie-Chick serious." Aubrey says with a straight face, a small smile forms on Beca's lips and she chuckles softly.

"Thanks again, Bree." The brunette squeezes her hands and sighs. "I know you hated me at first, but I'm glad we're friends."

"Who says we're friends?" Aubrey asks with a poker straight face.

"Fuck you." Beca smacks her arm. The blonde laughs and picks her brush back up for some final touches.

"But in all seriousness, I am too." She gives her a warm smile, and Beca smiles back.

Just then, they hear the redhead open the door while singing Pocketful of Sunshine. Beca hops off of the sink and quickly looks in the mirror.

"Nice work, Posen."

"I know." Aubrey says matter-of-factly.

"Bree? You in there?" Chloe pipes up from the other side of the door.

"Yeah, be right out." Aubrey looks over at Beca and whispers, pointing at her lip. "Make sure you have a good story for that." The brunette nods. She turns the knob, and both women walk out of the bathroom. Chloe's back is facing them with her at her bed.

"I got you two bars." The redhead turns around with a smile plastered on her face with the chocolate bars in her hands. When her eyes land on Beca, her smile drops.

"Hey Chlo." The brunette croaks as she shifts nervously from one foot to the other.

"What happened to your lip?" The redhead's eyebrows knits together and she steps in front of Beca to examine it.

"She uh...she-"

"I bit it during the Riff Off." Beca quickly cuts Aubrey off. Chloe narrows her eyes, waiting for her to continue.

"That's why I walked off afterwards, I wanted to check to see how bad it was. It felt like my tooth went through." Beca's voice cracks somewhere in the sentence and she mentally curses herself. Chloe just stares at her. The other two women praying that she'll buy it.

"Does it hurt?"

"Like a bitch." Beca whines. Beside her, Aubrey releases a heavy sigh. There's an awkward silence and the younger girl bounces on her toes, looking anywhere except for Chloe. The redhead instantly notices this and breaks the silence.

"Bree, would you excuse us?" Beca gulps and glances over at the blonde, begging her not to go.

"Sure, I'll be across the hall." Aubrey takes the chocolate from Chloe, whose eyes are glued to Beca. The blonde walks by her and heads for the door. She looks back at Beca and mouths "Good luck." And walks out, closing the door behind her. Chloe turns slightly, and that's when the brunette remembers the story Aubrey told her not even ten minutes ago. Her eyes widen and she turns to bolt for the bathroom. The redhead turns back around and lunges towards the younger woman, tackling her to the ground.

The pair roll around on the floor, Chloe tries to pin Beca down, knowing she's much stronger and she won't be able to get up from that position. The brunette is able to sit up, only to have Chloe put her hands on her shoulders and slam Beca down on the floor, knocking the wind out of her.

The redhead then straddles her best friend and pins her hands on the sides of her head. Beca kicks and squirms trying to get out of the woman's grasp, but it's no use. Once she stops, Chloe stares down at her and waits until their eyes lock.

"How come you don't want to share a room with me?" Chloe asks, the hurt evident in her voice.

"I knew you'd sleep on my bed, so I wanted a bre-" The redhead squeezes her thighs together, crushing the petite woman's rib cage.

"Ow! You little fucker!" Beca screams but Chloe doesn't stop. Instead, she threatens to apply more pressure.

"No no no, stop seriously Chloe, you're gonna break something."

"Are you going to tell me then?"

"No." Beca says boldly.

"Mm...okay." Chloe immediately stops squeezing her legs together and moves closer to Beca's face. This makes the brunette's heartbeat increase and her face flush. Suddenly, the older woman bites her shoulder and Beca cries out in pain.

"Son of a- okay ouch stop, STOP! I'll tell you!" Chloe retracted, grinning down at her.

"Good girl." Beca gives her a glower stare.

"I hate you."

"You could never." Chloe kisses her forehead with a big, "Mwah" sound and gets off of the smaller girl. "Now, what happened?" Beca pulls her knees to her chest and sighs.

"I can't tell you."

"Try me." Chloe pushes.

The brunette shakes her head and her eyes drop to the floor."I don't want you to get hurt." She whispers. The redhead scoots closer and leans towards her.

"What do you me-" She's cut off when Fat Amy busts through the door with a bag of candy in her hand.

"Get your tiny asses in my room! Oh...did I uh."

"No, Ams you're good." Beca reassures her. "We're coming." The brunette stands up and brushes herself off before walking towards the door. She can just feel Chloe drilling holes in the back of her head.

"This conversation isn't over, Beca." The girl pauses, she was waiting for her to say that. She takes a deep breath and mumbles.

"I know." Then she proceeds to head out the door and down the hall. Amy awkwardly turns and follows Beca.

"She's hiding something." Chloe says to herself, before getting up and following the pair.

———————————————————————————

The Bellas are all sprawled out on Amy's bed, candies were being passed around. Beca decides to try and forget the recent events and focus on how to beat the other groups.

"Hey, what happened to your lip?" Beca looks over at Jessica, who points at the cut.

"Oh, I bit it during the Riff Off." The brunette replies. Chloe just snorts and rolls her eyes.

"Is that not what happened?" Ashley asks.

"No it is, it-you know what?" Beca puts down the top to the chocolates and places her hands on her lap. "This," She points at her lip and continues. "Is the least of my problems."

"Damn if looks like your tooth went through." CR adds in.

"Trust me, it hurts like a bitch." Beca runs her tongue over it slightly, attempting to hide her wincing. Realizing it was probably noticeable, she spoke up again before anyone could ask anymore questions. "Anyways, you guys, we've never competed against bands that play actual instruments. What's the plan?"

"I really think we should just stay true to ourselves, and it will all figure itself out." Emily pipes up.

"Emily?"

"Mm hmm?" The younger Bella turns to look at Fat Amy.

"Please hear this in the best way possible." The blonde clicks her tongue before continuing. "You're a very stupid person." Aubrey furrows her eyebrows, while Emily's shoulders drop.

"You know what? Maybe it doesn't matter if we win or not," Chloe leans forward. "Because they will like us so much that they will invite us to keep touring with them. And it won't matter if I get into Vet School because we will be together as a family, supporting each other. And really, isn't that what it's all about?"

"Yes." Aubrey and Emily say in unison. Fat Amy just chuckles.

"Yeah, except for all families break apart, and the only person you can ever truly rely on is yourself." She raises her hand to high five Aubrey, whose smile instantly drops. There's an awkward silence as everyone looks around at each other, not knowing what to say after that. Amy sits up. "All right, time to drop a smash."

"What?" Aubrey looks at her confused, before it finally clicks. "Oh no no no no." Emily lifts her shirt over her nose, horrified.

"Think it's a whole album." It then hits the rest of the Bellas and they scrunch their faces up in disgust.

"Well I'm gonna go get ready. We're performing in a few hours." Beca picks up her wrappers and closes the bag of Starburst.

"Yes," Aubrey claps. "We need to be on our A game tonight. Everyone meet back here in 2 hours." The rest of the women nod and start to collect their garbage. As they're cleaning, Aubrey pulls Beca aside and whispers in her ear.

"How'd it go?"

"She pinned me to the ground...and then she fucking bit me!" Beca hisses. She pulls down her shirt to reveal the bite mark on her shoulder.

"Oh my God." Aubrey's eyes widen. "Okay, she has never done that to me before."

"Guess I'm just the lucky one!" The brunette raises her voice, resulting in the other women to stop what they were doing and look over at the pair. She gives them a thumbs up and they continue cleaning.

"She knows something's up, Aubrey. What the hell do I do? I can't tell her." The younger girl runs her hand through her hair.

"I know, I know." The blonde places her hands on her shoulders and gives them a squeeze to try to calm her down. "Just try and stall as much as you can, at least until this trip is over. I'll try to keep her by my side." Beca sighs.

"Okay, that could work."

Aubrey brings her hands back down to her sides and gives her a small smile. The brunette then heads out the door to her room.

Aubrey's happy they've become close friends over the years. It definitely helped when Beca slowly get rid of some of her ear monstrosities. Chloe waits until everyone's out of the room to approach her friend.

"Bree, is she okay?" Aubrey looks over at Chloe and nods.

"Yeah, she's just stressed about the performance tonight." The redhead tilts her head in confusion.

"Beca never stresses like that."

"Well, she just doesn't want to let you guys down." Aubrey throws out the rest of the trash and smiles. Before Chloe can say anything, the blonde drags her out of the room and down the hall.

"Now, lets get ready for tonight!"


	8. Chapter Seven: At What Cost?

2 hours later, all the Bella's were finally ready for their performance. They decided to sing Cheap Thrills and their matching outfits were "totes cute" as Chloe put it. They sported a sailor look. Blue pants and a red and white striped top tucked in. The girls were all nervous, they have never competed against real bands before, but each of them put that aside and focused more on how happy they all were to finally perform together again. Well, not all of them. They missed Stacie. They managed to FaceTime her in the dressing room and she wished them all good luck, she also mentioned that she was due anytime now, which resulted in squeals from all the girls.

Yes. Beca Mitchell had also squealed, believe it or not.

Chloe talks animatedly with a huge smile on her face, as soon the word "Auntie Chloe" slips from her lips, the rest of the Bellas shout that they want to be aunts as well.

"Of course," Stacie says with a teary smile. "I can't think of any other group of people to be in her lives, I love you girls."

"We love you too Stace, call us as soon as you have the baby!" The women all wave goodbye and the redhead hangs up and slides her phone back in her pocket.

"All right ladies," Chloe claps her hands together as she turns around to face her friends. "We got a put on our best show and give them all what we got! Now, let's go see what we're up against." The Bellas all cheer and file out. Beca however, walks in a different direction and heads straight to mirror, where she was at earlier doing her makeup. It only took Chloe a few seconds before she sensed that the brunette wasn't behind her. Beca calls it her sixth sense. The redhead strolls over to her best friend and waits patiently a few feet away. "Becs, you coming?" The brunette looks over and smirks at her.

"Your sixth sense thing is super weird, dude." Chloe chuckles and shrugs her shoulders. After arguing a few times with her in the past, she realized that Beca was right, she's not sure why it's particularly the brunette and when she walks away from the group, but she feels this sort of gravitational pull towards the girl. Sometimes she can't even help it, the force is so strong that she can't brush it off even if she wanted to, not saying that she ever considered it.

"But yeah, I'll be a minute. I'm just touching up my make up." Beca pulls Chloe out of her trance and the redhead shakes her head.

"Alright then, I'll wait for you." Chloe walks towards her best friend and sits on a stool next to her.

"Always nice to have your company Beale..." Beca trails off when she saw the turtle man in the mirror, standing off to the side staring at her. "On second thought, I just want some alone time right now, you know, to calm my nerves down before the performance." Chloe furrows her eyebrows, studying the girl for a few moments.

"But whenever you're stressed I'm always here to help you out." Beca looks down, refusing to make eye contact with her best friend. That's true. Chloe is always there for her. When her and Jesse had to break up because long distance wasn't working out, she told everyone it was mutual, and it was, but she ended up breaking down that night and Chloe had comforted her. Or when she was having an off day at rehearsals she said she just didn't have much sleep when really, she was stressing about a final that was coming up. Beca knows that it will only cause the older woman to worry more if she doesn't say something. But what was she supposed to say?

"The reason why I've been pushing you away is because I've been threatened and if I don't do what they say they'll hurt you and the Bellas."

But of course, Beca didn't say that out loud.

"Beca what's going on? You've been acting weird ever since Emily's performance." The brunette continues to fix up her eyeliner and just shrugs. But her hand that's resting on the table is tapping it nervously. She stops when she saw Chloe looks down at her hand, but her left thumb starts to run over her pointer finger involuntarily. Chloe immediately grabs her hand and looks back up at Beca, but the brunette keeps her focus on her reflection. After a few seconds, the redhead starts to get impatient and slightly squeezes her hand. Beca sighs and glances down at their hands, clenching and unclenching her jaw. She finally lifts her head up to look in to those bright blue eyes. She curses herself when she sees they're glassy, knowing she was reason behind her sadness, just begging her to let her in.

Beca knows her internal battle was clearly showing on her face. Chloe was about to ask another question before Aubrey came around the corner.

"Guys c'mon, you're gonna want to see this." The pair didn't move an inch. They continue to stare at each other before Beca finally breaks the eye contact.

"You go. I'll meet up with you guys in a few minutes."

"Fine." Chloe says coldly. She stands up from her seat and heads over to Aubrey.

"Chloe, you okay?" The blonde grabs Chloe's forearm, stopping her in her tracks.

"Yeah, I'm good." Chloe smiles, but it doesn't quite reach her eyes. "Lets go see the competition!" She brushes past her and over to the other Bellas near the stage. Aubrey stays back and turns to head over to Beca, but soon as she was about to walk towards her, she catches someone out of the corner of her eye approaching the brunette. Assuming who she's talking to is the man that gave her the black eye and bloody lip, the blonde is livid. But she doesn't want to make matters worse, so she decides that eavesdropping would be a better option. Aubrey watches as Beca places down her eyeliner and turns her body around to lean up against the table, facing the man.

"What do you want, Theo?" She asks bitterly. He walks towards her and grins.

"Well, aren't you just a ray of sunshine?" He stands a few feet in front of her and looks her up and down. "Just here to observe the contestants." His eyes linger a little too long over Beca's chest. The brunette instantly notices this and cocks her head to the side, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Eyes up here, perv." Theo finally makes eye contact and chuckles.

"You know," He brings his right hand to his chin and slides his index finger below his bottom lip, humming. "We're gonna have to get along eventually. I work for Khaled, and I'm going to make sure he gets the best of the best. So, once signs you, I'll be working for you."

"Like hell you are. And what makes you so sure that Khaled will pick the Bellas?"

"I have my ways, Beca. And he won't pick the Bellas. I'll make sure he only picks you." He took a step towards her and cups her face. "And if you don't do exactly what I say," He strokes his thumb across her cheek. "I'll kill the redhead." Beca's filled with rage she shoves him away, attracting the other people in the dressing room. He looks around innocently and they go back to what they're doing, figuring it was some sort of a break up. He throws his hands in the air and laughs. Beca then takes two steps forwards and grabs him by the collar of his shirt, leaning into his ear.

"You threaten her again and I. Will. Kill. You." Beca hisses, and shoves him again before she turns on her heels to find the other Bellas. Aubrey quickly bolts out of the dressing area and makes her way over to Chloe.

"Everything okay? You seems out of breath." Chloe gives Aubrey a concerning look and places her hand on her lower back.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. You know how I get with performances, Chlo." She fake vomits and Chloe laughs, shaking her head. The redhead focuses her attention back on the stage as her and the other Bellas hear Evermoist being announced to the stage. Aubrey immediately clutches her stomach and holds her left hand up to her mouth to stop herself from actually vomiting. Not because of their performance coming up.

But because of Beca.

Fearful of how much danger she's really in.


	9. Chapter Eight: This Stays Between Us

Beca hears Saddle up wrapping up their performance in the distance. They were pretty good. Their group, along with Young Sparrow and DJ Dragon Nuts, actually seem like genuinely nice people. She definitely didn't get the 'stick up my ass' vibe she got from Evermoist.

The brunette believes that just because you're competitors, doesn't mean you have to be bitches to one another. Unless shes given a reason, she's very respectful of other groups and acknowledges that there are people in the world that are just as talented as the Bellas are.

Evermoist though? They're like the girls Beca dealt with back in high school.

The woman shakes her head and tries to clear her mind from that. That was years ago, and she didn't have time to dwell on that when the conversation her and Theo had was still fresh in her mind. She knows that if she's focused on that during their performance, she's won't be on her A-game.

Beca takes a deep breath and slowly exhales, letting all of her worries release out into the air. She walks up next to Aubrey and crosses her arms over her chest as she observes Evermoist.

Aubrey glances over at Chloe and Emily before she waits a heartbeat or two to look over at Beca. The woman sees her out of the corner of her eye and mumbles a "later" to the blonde.

The crowd immediately erupts in roars as soon as Evermoist starts to sing. Emily, Chloe, Aubrey, and Beca were the only ones watching, since the other women decided a few seconds before Beca got there that they wanted to touch up their makeup.

"Wow, they really can shred." Emily comments as she watches in amazement, the woman bounces on the balls of her feet, like a puppy anxiously waiting for their owner to open the door. Aubrey nods her head and swallows hard.

"They're better than Saddle up even."

"We just gotta keep them out of our heads." Beca huffs. She runs her hands down her legs and drums her finger on them, pushing and turning imaginary knobs.

Whenever there's too much on her mind and the pressure is borderline unbearable, mixing has always been that one constant thing that she can fall back on.

And since Barden, Chloe is too.

The Other Bellas come up from behind them and Lilly places her head on Beca's shoulder. The brunette lifts her arm and lightly pats her cheek. One of the backstage crew members appears and informs the women that they're up next.

"Great." Aubrey says nervously. Chloe grabs ahold of her best friend's hand and gives it a little tug. The blonde squeezes her hand and gives her a reassuring smile.

"We're gonna aca rock this." Chloe winks and Aubrey giggles with a nod.

"Hell yeah we are."

Evermoist finishes their song and Calamity glances over her shoulder at the Bellas with a smug smile. The women look at her in disgust and scoff. Calamity spins her head back to face the crowd and grabs the mic, her lips press up against it.

"Thank you so much. We are," She takes a deep breath and practically moans into the microphone.

"Evermoist." The crowd keeps cheering and clapping as the band gets their things together and heads off stage.

"Oh, wow!" The announcer makes his way onto the stage in utter amazement. "Who doesn't want to see that on "Salute the Troops" next week huh? Keep it going. Whoo!" The crowd continues to cheer clap. On the other side of the stage, the Bellas watch as Evermoist introduce themselves to DJ Khaled.

Beca spots Theo lurking in the corner and visibly freezes. Aubrey catches sight of this and glances over at the brunette. She follows her line of sight and and squints, she can't see the person's face, but based on Beca's death stare, she can assume it's Theo.

"He's going to wrap Khalid around his disgusting finger." The brunette says under her breath, loud enough for only Aubrey to hear. "He's not gonna hurt you or the Bellas. I'll kill him if he does." Beca crosses her arms over her chest and continues to stare at the man. Aubrey opens her mouth to say something, but her attention is back on the stage when their group is announced next.

Very few people clap from the crowd as the Bellas get into their positions. John and Gail watch from the side stage with their equipment.

"The Bellas reunited finally onstage. They're gonna rock these groups with their mouth music." Gail chuckles as she hold the microphone in her hand.

"And as predicted, Gail, the Bellas are in over their heads, lost in a sea of seamen." Gail gives the man an odd look, but eventually shrugs it off. It isn't the weirdest thing hes said.

Cynthia Rose is in the middle of the stage and starts rapping the first verse of Cheap Thrills

**Cynthia Rose**\- "_Up with it, girl, rock with it girl_"

**Flo**\- "_Bellas_!"

**Cynthia Rose**\- "_Show them it girl, bada-bum-bum. Bounce with it, girl, dance with it, girl. Get with it, girl, bada-bum-bum_."

**Beca**\- "_Come on, come on, turn the radio on. It's Friday night and it won't be long. Gotta do my hair put my makeup on. It's Friday night and it won't be long_."

The crowd gets into it and claps along to the beat. Off to the side, Saddle Up, Young Sparrow and DJ Dragon Nuts are nodding along and clapping with the crowd, while Evermoist is trying to not look impressed. But they were all thinking the same thing; they're much better than they thought.

**Flo**\- "_Till I hit the dance floor_"

**Cynthia Rose**\- "_Bada-bum_"

**Flo**\- "_Hit the dance floor_"

**Cynthia Rose**\- "_Bada-bum_"

**Beca**\- "_I got all I need_."

Theo watches the woman intently and bites his lip. "She's definitely working for Khalid." He says to himself. Beca looks over during the performance and manages to flip him off when she does a quick spins. She finally releases her frustration and belts out the next lyrics.

Beca- "_Babaaaaay! I love cheap thrills! Cheap Thrills. Hey ye ye ye ye hey yeah! You're worth more than diamonds more than gold. Go on and make the beat just take control!_"

Chloe smiles and turns to look at Aubrey. She's happy her best friend was able to look past Beca's "ear monstrosities" all those years ago and gave her a chance.

When Aubrey claimed that Beca had ruined their performance back in her Senior year, she felt terrible when the woman stormed out. Right before the brunette turned her back, Aubrey saw the tears begin to pool in the woman's eyes. That's when she realized how much Beca truly cared for the Bellas and was genuinely trying to help them win. She had acted like she didn't want Beca back in, when in reality she was happy she didn't get a text saying she moved out of the country. She just felt like she had to act that way because that's the type of front she put up. The next day the blonde texted her and asked her to meet up for coffee. It had taken her a bit, but eventually she apologized and it was the first time they've really talked since one of them had been going for the other's throat. After that, they were able to find common ground and became friends.

That's why Aubrey does what she does after the performance.

Beca exits the stage immediately and the blonde notices the look on her face. The crowd cheers loudly and the Bellas smile and bow, happy they've still got it. Aubrey takes the opportunity and tries to discreetly slip by to catch up to Beca. Chloe notices, of course. Her eyebrows furrow when she sees Beca storming off with Aubrey following after her. She's about to head off in their direction, when the announcer comes to the stage.

"Well well well! My apologies ladies, you were amazing. Give it up for the Bellas!" The crowd cheers again and multiple people whistle in response. The Bellas wave and say "thank you" and a few of them even curtsy before they make their way off of the stage. Cynthia Rose glances over at Evermoist and looks them up and down before smiling deviously and winking. Calamity rolls her eyes in response and she turns on her heels, the other women following behind her. Saddle up however has no shame and even if they wanted to, they couldn't hide how impressed they were. The leader of the group nods to them and gives them a small smile. Emily giggles and waves, skipping off the stage.

The Bellas are now off the stage and they all are talking excitedly and complimenting each other on how well each of them did. Chloe only hears about half of what they're saying. Her thoughts and worries clouding most of her mind.

_Why has Beca been acting so weird? Does Aubrey know? _

Chloe feels like she's at a soccer game. Beca's kicking the ball between both feet, trying to keep all of her emotions and heartache to herself, until life slides in, throwing off the rhythm shes created and she goes tumbling down. But no matter how hard she falls, she throws out a hand and keeps everyone at an arms' length, insisting she can stand up on her own. And even as she gets up and people ask if she's okay, she nods and continues to play. Most will believe her and are convinced that she's alright. But the ones who _know_ her, they see the battle in the slight limp in her walk and the faint whimpers in each step she takes.

"We really showed them, huh?" Jessica's now in Chloe's view and it takes her a few seconds to register what the woman had said.

"Oh yeah, totes..." She trails off as she looks over the blonde's shoulder, trying to see if she can catch a glimpse of either if her best friends.

"If you're looking for Beca, she's with Aubrey. But she looked pretty upset." This makes the redhead's eyes snap to hers.

"What do you mean? Is she okay?"

"Well," Jessica scratches the back of her neck. "I don't know, but I've never seen her look that pissed. I mean, back in Freshman year I was so sure that her resting bitch face was permanent." Chloe chuckles at this. Yeah, she definitely remembers that. But it was only a matter of time that her bubbly personality would rub off on the brunette. "But, Aubrey looked pretty concerned, so maybe she knows what's going on."

"Beca's been off for a while now." Chloe crosses her arms and looks down. "And she's avoiding me." She mumbles the last part, but if Jessica weren't giving her her undivided attention, she'd miss it. The blonde smiles sympathetically and nudges her arm.

"I'm sure she just doesn't want you getting wrapped up in it." Chloe smiles sadly and nods her head. Jessica loops her arm through the redhead's and tugs lightly. "Come on, let's go get ready. It's movie night!" She squeals, and Chloe couldn't help but giggle. Chloe, Jessica, and Ashley had bonded back at the retreat. She wishes she could've connected with them sooner.

——————————————————————-

"Beca, wait up!" Aubrey yells as she starts to jog to Beca. With so many years in the Bellas she was able to do so in high heels. That also meant Beca had too.

"I just really wanna be alone right now," Beca yells over her shoulder, unaware of how close the blonde really is. "I need to-" A strong hand is grabs her shoulder and whips her around. Aubrey's hand is on her hip and her heels are dangling in the other.

"Was that him? The one who was watching you earlier?" Beca nods and looks down at her feet.

"Yeah. Hes basically been stalking me ever since we got here." She crosses her arms over her chest and bites the inside of her cheek. "He's seriously freaking me out."

Aubrey looks past Beca and then glances sideways behind her to make sure no one is watching before she grabs her by the bend of her elbow and pulls her off to the side.

"Chloe's gonna lose her friggin' mind." Aubrey mumbles. The brunette pinches the bridge of her nose and sighs.

"I know, I know, I'll think of something."

"You're literally an open book."

"Not helping!" Beca throws her arm in the air and lets it slap down on the side of her leg. She runs brings her hands up to her face and runs them down it, groaning. up. "The girls cannot know what's going on." She huffs and her arms fall back down her sides. "This stays between us, okay?" Beca's eyebrows lift in confirmation.

"Okay." Aubrey nods firmly. "But," She takes a deep breath and exhales shakily. "You promise nothing will happen to you?"

"As long as the Bellas are safe, that's all that matters." Beca turns her head to the side, clenching and unclenching her jaw. Aubrey reaches out and places her hands over hers.

"You're a Bella, Beca."

"Aubrey," The woman shakes her head and faces the blonde. "I don't care-"

"No, listen."Aubrey squeezes her hands and tilts her head down. "We're going to figure this out and no one is getting hurt."

"If something happens-"

"Nothing is going to-"

"_If _something happens," Beca repeats. "Please keep them safe." A tear runs down her face and she sniffs.

"I will." Aubrey releases her hands and pulls Beca into a hug, letting a few tears slip from her eyes.

About thirty seconds pass and they finally release one another. Beca chuckles softly and wipes under her eyes.

"If someone came up to me four years ago and told me that we'd be doing this," The brunette waves her hand back forth between the two of them. "I would've thought they were insane."

"Me too." Aubrey laughs. She feels her phone vibrate in her pocket and pulls it out.

**Fat Amy**:_ "Get your small lumps over here, it's movie night!"_

Aubrey rolls her eyes and sends her a quick text letting her know they're on their way.

"Who was that?"

"Amy. The girls are waiting for us to watch a movie." The blonde slides her phone back in her pocket and motions to head in the direction of the hotel. Beca falls into step beside her and both head women to the building.

"This is not gonna be easy..."


End file.
